In 2023, President Bola Tinubu and his ministers vowed to actualize some of their promises to Nigerians in 2024.
The President in his New Year speech on Monday, January 1, 2024, also reiterated his commitment to fulfil his pre-election promises and further assured Nigerians his administration would justify their trust in him.
So, as the new year celebration peters out, it is important to look back at the promises the Federal Government vowed to fulfil this year.
Security
The activities of insurgents and bandits terrorising many parts of the country are not the only security problems Nigerians are facing, the perceived inability of the security agencies to stem the tide is a challenge on its own.
Nigeria is bedevilled with terrorism and banditry in the northwest; insurgency in the northeast, spilling over to the north-central; separatist militants in the southeast; as well as ritual killing and cultism in the southwest and south-south.
However, the State Minister of Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, has said that by November 2024, all forms of insecurity in the country would end.
“God’s willing, from now to November of 2024, all security challenges will be overcome,” Matawalle said in a recent interview with BBC.
He explained that troops had started taking proactive measures and strategies to combat bandits and terrorists in the north.
New Minimum Wage
In December 2023, the Minister of Information and Communication, Idris Mohammed, announced that a new wage structure would take effect from April 1, 2024.
Mohammed said the new wage structure is part of ongoing negotiations with labour unions.
Corroborating this in his New Year speech, the President affirmed that his government “Will implement a new national living wage for our industrious workers this New Year.”
Improved Electricity Supply
In November 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Maitama Tuggar said Nigerians will experience improved electricity supply by the first half of 2024.
He said electricity supply across the country will improve with the Siemens gas deal between Nigeria and Germany and the completion of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project.
“In the coming year by the first half of next year (2024), there will be a remarkable improvement in the electricity supply in Nigeria,” Tuggar assured Nigerians.
Refineries
By the end of 2024, all four state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri are expected to be operational if the FG’s promises on the facilities are anything to go by.
With the recent completion of the mechanical phase of the turnaround maintenance on the Port Harcourt refinery, the facility with 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity is expected to begin operation in the first quarter of 2024.
While inspecting the ongoing quick-fix project on the Kaduna refinery in October 2023, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mele Kyari, assured Nigerians that the facility would restart operation by the end of the year.
Students Loan
While speaking at the 29th National Economic Summit in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu said his government’s Students Loan Programme will commence in January 2024.
“By January 2024, the new Students Loan Programme must commence. To the future of our children and students, we are saying no more strikes,” the President said
Loans for MSMEs
The office of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima in collaboration with the Bank of Industry is expected to begin the disbursement of loans to Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in January 2024.
A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation & MSMEs, stated that “The loans totalling about ₦75bn will be given to small businesses nationwide at an interest rate of 9%.”
The FG is reportedly set to build on its past collaborations with stakeholders across the public and private sectors to provide financial support for MSMEs both in grants and loans.
New Regulations for Loan Apps
The Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera. [Punch]
In December 2023, the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, announced that the commission would unveil a new regulatory framework in 2024, to address Nigerians’ indebtedness to digital money lenders.
He said after the commission’s effort to reduce the abuse and harassment of Nigerians by loan apps, there’s been a significant increase in loan defaults.
To find a balance, the commission promised to come up in 2024 with regulations that “will be a broader approach to responsible borrowing and responsible lending by individuals and corporates.”
